GS5 Convenors

The vision of the DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY is increased well-being and prosperity through science, technology and innovation. Their mission is to provide leadership, an enabling environment, and resources for science, technology and innovation in support of South Africa’s development.

The vision of the DEPARTMENT OF WOMEN a just, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous society where everybody’s potential is equitably realized. Mission Accelerate socio-economic transformation and implementation for women’s empowerment and participation through oversight, monitoring, evaluation and influencing policy.

The HSRC was established in 1968 as South Africa’s statutory research agency and has grown to become the largest dedicated research institute in the social sciences and humanities on the African continent, doing cutting-edge research in areas that are crucial to development. The Council conducts large-scale, policy-relevant,social-scientific research for public sector users,non-governmental organisations and international development agencies Research activities and structures are closely aligned with South Africa’s national development priorities. The HSRC’s integrated research programmes provide single points of entry – complete with a critical mass of researchers – for interdisciplinary and problem orientated research - read more.

In 1994, Howard University (HU) awarded South African President Nelson Mandela, with an honorary doctorate degree. In Mandela’s acceptance speech, he invited HU to become involved in the reconstruction of post-apartheid South Africa. The following year, HU President H Patrick Swygert led an HU delegation to South Africa to explore potential collaborative projects with government agencies, universities and other institutions. Shortly, thereafter, HU faculty established the Howard University Republic of South Africa Project (HURSAP) in 1997. Since its formation, HURSAP has worked with South African institutions to promote community engagement through raising awareness, effective training and scholarly research. The mission of Howard University ADVANCE-IT (HU ADVANCE-IT) is to strengthen and improve gender diversity in the STEM workforce by developing an innovative and strategic model for institutional transformation to attract, promote and retain an equitable proportion of women faculty and academic leaders in the STEM disciplines through education, advocacy, and empowerment. The HURSAP / HU ADVANCE-IT partnership aligns with HU ADVANCE-IT’s initiatives for women STEM faculty to foster collaborations for research and education between women faculty from the USA and the Republic of South Africa.

The NRF was established through the National Research Foundation Act (Act No 23 of 1998), following a system-wide review conducted for the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST). The new entity incorporated the functions of the research funding agencies that were previously servicing various sections of the research community, namely the former Centre for Science Development (CSD) of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the former Foundation for Research Development (FRD) that included several National Research Facilities. As an independent government agency, the NRF promotes and supports research in all fields of knowledge. It also conducts research and provides access to National Research Facilities. The NRF provides services to the research community especially at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Science Councils with a view to promote high-level human capital development. The NRF aims to uphold excellence in all its investments in knowledge, people and infrastructure.

THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…" With an annual budget of $7.3 billion (FY 2015), we are the funding source for approximately 24 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing. We fulfill our mission chiefly by issuing limited-term grants -- currently about 11,000 new awards per year, with an average duration of three years -- to fund specific research proposals that have been judged the most promising by a rigorous and objective merit-review system. Most of these awards go to individuals or small groups of investigators. Others provide funding for research centers, instruments and facilities that allow scientists, engineers and students to work at the outermost frontiers of knowledge. NSF's goals--discovery, learning, research infrastructure and stewardship--provide an integrated strategy to advance the frontiers of knowledge, cultivate a world-class, broadly inclusive science and engineering workforce and expand the scientific literacy of all citizens, build the nation's research capability through investments in advanced instrumentation and facilities, and support excellence in science and engineering research and education through a capable and responsive organization. We like to say that NSF is "where discoveries begin."

Portia Ltd (co-founders of the Gender Summits)designs and implements effective, evidence-based strategies for advancing quality of research and innovation through gender. Our work covers gender equality issues in STEM and gender dimension in the content, process and impact of science (STEM) endeavours. We work through national and international partnerships, involving scientific community, industry, policy makers and gender research scholars, to enhance science knowledge making; improve institutional practices and process; promote human capital; and ensure compliance with regulation. We believe firmly in putting the views and needs of science at the centre of the gender equality debate in science, and as a key to achieving sustainable economic growth and promoting Europe’s role as a global R&D leader. Portia co-founded the Gender Summits in 2011 as part of a project we co-ordinated, genSET.

Sponsors

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions — among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey — and publishes nearly 2,200 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and over 25,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works.

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health by supporting bright minds in science, the humanities and social sciences, and public engagement.

Statistics South Africa has a vision to be “Your leading partner in quality statistics”. Our mission is “To lead and partner in statistical production systems for evidence-based decisions”. Statistics South Africa is the fact finder of the nation and an institution that provides a crucial decision support service. Sharing aspects of the state of our society with the nation every second day on average through its array of 170 releases per annum, the pivotal role that this institution plays cannot be over emphasised.

Anglo American is a global and diversified mining business that provides the raw materials essential for economic development and modern life. Our people are at the heart of our business. It is our people who use the latest technologies to find new resources, plan and build our mines and who mine, process and move and market our products – from bulk commodities and base metals to precious metals and diamonds (through De Beers) – to our customers around the world. Our diversified portfolio of products spans the economic development cycle and, as a responsible miner, we are the custodians of precious resources. We work together with our key partners and stakeholders to unlock the long-term value that those resources represent for our shareholders, but also for the communities and countries in which we operate – creating sustainable value and making a real difference. Our mining operations, growth projects and exploration and marketing activities extend across southern Africa, South America, Australia, North America, Asia and Europe.

The NEF’s role is to support Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BB-BEE). As the debate concerning what constitutes meaningful and sustainable BB-BEE evolves, the NEF anticipates future funding and investment requirements to help black individuals, communities and businesses achieve each element of the Codes of Good Practice. These include a focus on preferential procurement, broadening the reach of black equity ownership, transformation in management and staff and preventing the dilution of black shareholding.

Media Partners

International Innovation is the flagship free-to-access publication from Research Media, publishing global insight and analysis on current scientific research trends, as well as funding and policy issues. Coverage spans the breadth of scientific disciplines, with key focus on the interdisciplinary areas of healthcare, environment and technology. International Innovation’s primary aim is to make research understandable and discoverable for a broad audience. Our specialism lies in bringing clarity from complexity, offering a different and unique forum for the communication and dissemination of publicly- and privately-funded research. International Innovation brings research to life in new and exciting ways. We develop bespoke and proven research dissemination solutions to meet our client’s needs. Utilising the range of opportunities open to us we are able to offer a multi-platform, multi-channel approach, as well as access to the broadest possible audience across the spectrum of research, policy and practice.

The M&G was launched in 1994 as Africa's first online newspaper, and one of the first online newspapers in the world. We continue to provide content that is in-depth and insightful on platforms that are digitally innovative. Chris Roper is the editor-in-chief of the M&G. We were the first African news publication available on Kindle, and one of the first to have a paid-for iPad edition and iPhone app in the iStore. The M&G is also mobile friendly and can be accessed on m.mg.co.za. The M&G has received numerous accolades and awards for its online work, often scooping the inaugural digital awards in various competitions. The first to win the multi-platform award at the 2013 Sikuvile awards, the website has also won the CNN Multichoice Africa Journalism Award for digital journalism in 2012 and the online multimedia award at the 2012 Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards. Besides winning these firsts, the M&G's website has won three Bookmarks awards in 2010 and 2011, one of which was a gold award for its Nelson Mandela tribute site. It received three Webby Honourable mentions in 2008 for its Thought Leader platform site and in 2001, the site was voted one of the world's top 175 websites by Forbes.com.